One of the weapons capable of hitting nuclear structures in Iran is still unused and is now out of Israel’s reach.
Its name is ‘GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator’ (MOP), which is completely under the control of the United States.
MOP is not a nuclear bomb. That is, it does not explode nuclear.
But it is a non-nuclear ‘bunker blaster’ bomb that can destroy the bunker below the ground. It is the largest in the world in terms of this type of bomb.
This powerful bomb or missile weighs 30 thousand pounds or 13 thousand 600 kilograms capable of accurately targeting a target.
It may probably explode in Iran’s nuclear structure Fordo complex, which is located far below the mountains.
What is this bomb? Where is the challenge of using it?
The US government said, “GBU-57 A/B is a” powerful weapon that is capable of hitting strong bunkers and tunnels in the deep ground. “
The bomb is about 6 meters long and is thought to have exploded by entering about 200 feet (61 meters) deep into the ground.
And if a bomb is consistently dropped one by one, then the explosion of each bomb creates a way to enter the deepest part of the soil.
The MOP bomb was built by Boeing. It has never been used in war before. However, it has been tested in the White Sands Missile Range in the US state of New Mexico.
This bomb is more powerful than the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb of about 21 thousand 600 pounds (9 thousand 8p0 kg).
The MOAB bomb is called “Mother of All Bombs” and it was used in Afghanistan in 2017.
The Emeritus Professor Paul Rogers of the United Kingdom’s University of Bradford Peace Studies said, “The US Air Force has tried a kind of weapon, whose size and energy will be like the MOABBut the explosive part of it will be in a very strong metal shell. The ‘MOP’ bomb was created as a result of that effort.
Currently, only the B-2 Spirit aircraft in the United States is capable of carrying this MOP bomb. This aircraft is also known as the Stealth Bomber or ‘B-2’.
The aircraft created by the Northrop Grumman Company, a weapons and defense technology maker, is the latest aircraft of the US Air Force.
According to the manufacturer, B-2 can transport weapons about 40,000 pounds (18 thousand kg). The US Air Force, however, claimed that the aircraft successfully carried two bunker blaster bombs together, weighing about 60 thousand pounds (27 thousand kg).
Without re -fuel, the aircraft can go up to about seven thousand miles (11 thousand kilometers) simultaneously.
And once the fuel is in the sky, it can fly about 11,000 miles (18 and a half thousand kilometers).
The Northrop Grumman company also claims that it is capable of reaching an hour anywhere in the world.
Professor Carl Rogers said, “If the MoP bombs are used against any country like Iran, then the B-2 aircraft will require F-22 aircraft and drones. And the number of such bombs is very limited in the United States.”
According to him, “There is a 10-20-of all that is used for war.”
Will the MOP bomb be used against Iran?
Fordo after Natanz is Iran’s second nuclear enrichment center.
It is located below a mountain near QOM to the southwest of Tehran.
Its construction began in 2006 and it was implemented in 2009. That year, Tehran publicly acknowledged the existence of Fordo for the first time.
The installation is located about 80 meters (260 ft) in the depths of stone and soil and protected by Iran and Russia’s air defense systems.
In the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in March 2023, a small part of the uranium was found in Iran, which is about 83. seven percent of the refined and closer to the quality of nuclear weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the main purpose of the attack on Iran is to destroy Iran’s missiles and nuclear programs. He describes Iran and Iran’s nuclear program as a “threat to Israel”.
And one of the targets of the attack is Fordo, said officials of the country.
Israel’s United States Representative Yechiel Leiter told Fox News, “The goal of this whole expedition is to wipe out Fordo.”
However, Israel’s own MOP cannot use and the United States will not allow Israel to use the bomb alone if it does not directly participate in the attack against Iran.
“The United States will not definitely want Israel alone to do it.”
As a result, whether the bomb will be used against Iran to be used to the last, it depends on how much the United States is ready to engage here. In particular, President Donald Trump is headed by.
Professor Rogers said, “Everything depends on the question that Trump (US president) is fully willing to help the Israelis.”
At the G7 conference in Canada, Donald Trump was asked whether the United States would be militarily involved here. “I don’t want to say anything about that now,” he replied.
In another interview recently, Yechiel Leita was asked if the United States was likely to engage in the Fordo attack.
He replied that Israel only sought defense assistance from the United States.
“We have multiple plans to deal with Fordo. All things are not always done by bombing the sky,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Iran has always claimed that their nuclear program is absolutely peaceful and they have never tried to build a nuclear bomb.
However, the 35-member board of the IAEA officially said last week that Iran broke the rules of the international agreement with its nuclear program.
Israel has recently launched an attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
However, Professor Rogers believes that “Israel did not do any harm to a deep bunker like Fordo successfully.”They really need anything like the MOP, which they do not have,” he said.
“As long as Fordo is on, Iran is likely to lean on nuclear weapons, because Iran has the opportunity to increase the production levels of nuclear weapons or remove Uranium elsewhere,” said Kelsey Davenport, director of the US-based Arms Control Association.
However, the MOP against Iran is used but success is not yet certain. Because the actual depth and defense system of Fordo is still unknown, Professor Rogers said.
According to him, the MoP bomb could be the most powerful weapon to destroy Iran’s secret nuclear structures. But whether that will be possible at all, it’s hard to say.
